2009 Toyota Corolla
Competes with: Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra, Ford Focus
Looks like: A baby Camry
Drivetrain: 132-hp, 1.8-liter four-cylinder or 158-hp, 2.4-liter four-cylinder
Hits dealerships: February 2008
The Toyota Corolla is arguably Toyota's second-most-important model, and it took a long time for a new version to get here. The look certainly mimics the current-generation Camry, with an angled grille and sharp headlights. The exterior may not be radical, but Toyota rarely dares too much, especially in mainstream cars. That's why it has Scion, after all.
Inside gets a nice new look — everything seems clean, simple and well-laid-out, hopefully with improved materials.
Power for Standard, LE, XLE and S trims is rated at 132 horsepower from a revised version of the previous four-cylinder engine, with mileage figures of 27/35 mpg city/highway. There aren't any specifics on mileage with the different transmission choices yet. The outgoing Corolla gets 28/37 mpg using new 2008 EPA testing. A performance XRS trim level will reappear for 2009 with the same 158-hp four-cylinder found in the Scion tC and xB. It gets 22/30 mpg in this application and is mated to either a five-speed manual or five-speed automatic.
We'd expect prices to stay close to the $14,405-$15,615 starting prices of the 2007s, as has been the trend for other recently redesigned models.
2009 Toyota Matrix
2008 Toyota Sequoia
Competes with: Ford Expedition, Nissan Armada, Chevrolet Suburban
Looks like: A Tundra SUV
Drivetrain: 276-hp, 4.7-liter V-8 with five-speed automatic or 381-hp, 5.7-liter V-8 with six-speed automatic
Hits dealerships: Early 2008
The designer of the new Sequoia went so far as to live with an American family to find out what their large-SUV needs were to help on this redesign. We don't know if all that effort was needed to basically build the SUV version of the new Tundra pickup, but that's pretty much what we get with the new Sequoia.
Thankfully, it features the 5.7-liter V-8 engine we loved in the new Tundra. The standard V-8 is the same as the outgoing Sequoia's, however. Surprisingly, the larger engine gets better fuel economy, at 14/19 mpg city/highway with the 5.7-liter and 14/17 mpg city/highway with the 4.7-liter. Those numbers drop to 13/18 and 13/16 mpg for the four-wheel-drive models of each, respectively.
Even inside, the Tundra's Neapolitan color scheme is carried over. We're guessing it'll be a terrific-riding large SUV, and the fact that it can tow 10,000 pounds may make it a favorite of the hauling crowd.
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